Combined conveyor and operating boom apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a combined operating boom and conveyor. The combined boom and conveyor include a superstructure adapted for mounting on the hull of a marine vessel, such as a dredge. The conveyor is mounted on the superstructure such that it may elevate and lower. The superstructure is mounted on the hull such that it may slew, that is rotate around a vertical axis. The conveyor is comprised of a frame for mounting drive pulleys and idler rollers to support a moving conveyor belt. The frame may be trough-shaped or have a underlying bottom configured and disposed to convey spilled slurry or other material from the conveyor and down the incline of the conveyor frame, either back onto the vessel or off of the vessel at a user selected position substantially together with the conveyor deposit site.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/486,280 filed on Feb. 24, 2000 which is fully incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is in the field of marine construction and dredging.

2. Related Art

Water born hauling operations, particularly dredging, involve a wide variety of tasks requiring heavy equipment for their achievement. Being in a marine environment, space for various pieces of equipment on a vessel is always at a premium. There is a constant need for conserving space in working marine applications in general.

In the case of dredges, dredged material that is solid, semi-solid or a slurry often needs to be moved from a material intake apparatus to a hopper for containing the material or from the hopper to off of the dredge vessel. Conveyors to do this may be of multiple configurations, including conveyors that may elevate or rotate angularly around a vertical axis (slewing).

In marine operations including dredging, there is frequently a need for lifting material and equipment, or for removing subsurface objects. Accordingly, there is a need for a lifting boom that may perform operations more conventionally performed by cranes.

Additionally, different equipment may be used for dredging at varying depths. For example the cutter wheel disclosed in application Ser. No. 09/486,280 is designed to operate at and above certain preconfigured depths. From time to time different equipment may be needed to additionally dredge deeper than the designed depth limitations of the cutter wheel. Accordingly, there may be a need for advantageously placing other types of dredge equipment, including buckets, drag lines, an eddy pump or the like. To meet need for expanding the depth capability of a combined platform precision shallow water dredge, a boom would be advantageous.

Finally, other construction opportunities present themselves when dredging for navigational, jetting building, levee building, island building, environmental, remediation or other purposes. One type of such construction involves driving piles. Consequently, there is a also a need for a pile driver capability associated with dredging operations.

Another need in conveying dredged material, especially conveying material off the dredge vessel, is to minimize spillage of dredged material and slurry. Sediment plumes from material falling off of a discharge conveyor are counterproductive. There is a need in the art for a conveyor that controls spillage.

Finally of course, operational space being very compressed on a dredge platform, there is a need to combine the above described capabilities with preexisting equipment, such as the conveyor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a combined operating boom and conveyor. The combined boom and conveyor include a superstructure adapted for mounting on the hull of a marine vessel, such as a dredge. The conveyor is mounted on the superstructure such that it may elevate and lower. The superstructure is mounted on the hull such that it may slew, that is rotate around a vertical axis. The conveyor is comprised of a frame for mounting drive pulleys and idler rollers to support a moving conveyor belt. The frame may be trough-shaped or have a underlying bottom configured and disposed to convey spilled slurry or other material from the conveyor and down the incline of the conveyor frame, either back onto the vessel or off of the vessel at a user selected position substantially together with the conveyor deposit site.

The conveyor frame further supports a pulley or other structure for supporting a cable. The cable may be extended or retracted with a winch drum attached to the superstructure or hull. The cable may operate as a crane. Accordingly, operations such as lifting, dredging, draglining, grappling, moving submerged objects and the like may be done with the pulley and cable apparatus, as suspended and supported by the conveyor frame.

Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a combined platform precision dredge having an elevating conveyor.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a dredge having a combined conveyor and operating boom with a grapple mounted.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a dredge having a combined conveyor and operating boom with a dragline mounted.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of a dredge having a combined conveyor and operating boom with a pile driver mounted.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the dredge having a combined conveyor and operational boom.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of the combined conveyor and operating boom being used as a conveyor.

FIG. 7 is a schematic side view of the combined conveyor and operating boom being used for dredge maintenance.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view of a spillage return trough conveyor frame.

FIG. 9 is a cutaway cross section of the trough conveyor frame.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals indicate like elements, FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a dredge having a hull 1. In the depicted embodiment, the dredge is a combined platform for a precision shallow water dredge, whose enabling operative component is a cutter wheel 2. The illustrated hull has a hopper 3 for receiving, holding and transporting dredged material. An operator works from a control house 5. The conveyor 4 is disposed on the hull, usually on the top. It is supported by a super structure 12 and elevates or lowers around a fulcrum 14. The conveyor 4 and superstructure 12 are also mounted on the hull 1 such that they may rotate or “slew” rotationally about a vertical axis.

FIG. 2 shows the combined conveyor and operating boom of the present invention. As can be seen, a cable 7 is supported by equipment operatively attached to engage with the conveyor 4. This includes a winch drum 6A which may be attached to the conveyor super structure or the hull or both. The cable is wound onto the winch drum such that it may be retracted or extended. At any position outboard of the fulcrum, a pulley 16 is attached to the conveyor 4. In the preferred embodiment, the pulley is attached to one or both sides of the conveyor 4 such that the attachment does not interfere with the conveying operations when the operating boom is not in use. A separate cable 7B is shown having a connection 18 to the main lift cable 7A at 18. A separate winch drum 6B is disposed to extend or retract control cable 7B in order to direct and control the operation of the tool suspended at the end of main lift cable 7A. In FIG. 2 a grapple 8 is depicted.

A common problem with all forms of dredging is submerged objects which interfere with dredging. These may be trees, or other submerged objects including automobiles, rocks, concrete and the like. In order for a dredging to proceed smoothly, it is most efficient to attach equipment to lift submerged objects in order that the dredge equipment may proceed through that space. Frequently a grapple is used. The present invention incorporating the operating boom with the conveyor 4 may perform the same function. Accordingly, in operation, the assembly depicted in FIG. 2 would lower grapple 8 by extending main lift cable 7A through a clockwise rotation of winch drum 6A. The grapple 8 closes around a submerged object when contacting it. If necessary, which 6B and control cable 7B can be used to guide the grapple 8 to the proper placement. Upon engaging the submerged object, winch drum 6A is rotated a counter clockwise direction in order to retract main lift cable 7A, thereby lifting grapple 8 and the submerged object it has grappled.

The slewing or rotational function of the combined conveyor and operating boom may now be used. The conveyor 4 is rotated around a vertical axis and rotated as necessary to deposit the submerged object in any selected location. This may include the banks of the body of water, another vessel, the hopper 3 of the hull 1, or, in the case of the trees, a wood chipper 11 may be installed to chip the tree and dispose of the chips in the hopper 3.

FIG. 3 depicts another utility of the combined conveyor operating boom. In FIG. 3 a bucket dredge 9 is attached to the bottom of the main lift cable 7A. The bucket is dragged through deeper water to the dredge deeper material or through shallow water to dredge different material by retracting control cables 7B. Once full, the bucket 9 may be lifted by main lift cable 7A. The apparatus may then be elevated and/or slewed to once again to dump the contents of the bucket at a user selected location.

FIG. 4 depicts the operating boom configured with a pile driver 10. As before, piling is placed and then driven by a repeated lifting and dropping of the main lift cable 7A.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the combined platform with the combined conveyor and operating boom mounted thereon. The conveyor 4 is mounted on a super structure having a vertical axis. Around this axis the conveyor/operating boom may be rotated or slewed in order to place dredged material, retrieved underwater objects, or other items in the user selected positions, including the hopper 3.

FIG. 6 has a schematic figure showing the combined conveyor/operating boom in conveyor mode. As can be seen, dredged material, typically mud, is conveyed away from the hull by the conveyor in a conventional manner. In order to do so, the operating boom equipment is simply lifted to a position that does not interfere with operation of the conveyor. Not shown but described in application Ser. No. 09/486,280 are intermediate conveyances such as augers or conveyors used to take material from the hopper and deposit it on the conveyor of the present invention in order that it may be removed to a user selected location.

FIG. 7 depicts the combined conveyor operating boom being used for maintenance. Maintenance may be on the vessel the combined conveyor boom is attached to, as depicted, or to other vessels. In the depicted operation, the precision cutting dredge component 2 is being lifted for removal and repair or replacement.

FIG. 8 discloses another embodiment of the present invention showing an advantageous conveyor frame for mounting the conveyor. Frame 30 includes a bottom portion 32. The bottom portion, when the conveyor is elevated, catches dredged material in the form of liquid, slurry and/or solids, and through gravity feed when the boom is angled in the conveying mode, return the liquid, slurry and/or the solid particles back to the hopper within the dredge. In the depicted embodiment, the bottom is integrally fabricated with its side such that it has no holes, gaps or perforations. It is within the scope of the present invention that the bottom may have holes, perforations or mesh in order allow release liquids, particulate matter or slurry. It is further in the scope of the present invention that the juncture between the bottom and the sides of the super structure may be solid or have gaps. The super structure may be formed with any material for example metal or plastic.

As various modifications could be made to the exemplary embodiments, as described above with reference to the corresponding illustrations, without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative rather than limiting. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims appended hereto and their equivalents. 

1. A combined conveyor and operating boom for mounting on a dredge comprising: a superstructure adapted for mounting on a hull; a conveyor, said conveyor being mounted on said superstructure at a fulcrum, said mount allowing raising and lowering of said conveyor by pivoting around said fulcrum; a winch drum, said winch drum being adapted for mounting on one of said superstructure or said hull; and a pulley, said pulley being mounted on said conveyor outboard of said fulcrum.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a cable, said cable being operatively engaged with said winch drum and with said pulley. 